It could be argued that the § 527(f) tax and § 6033 proxy tax are similar to a corporate campaign expenditure tax in that all three would tax the political expenditures of entities which are otherwise permitted to engage in the activities. The other taxes might be characterized as penalty taxes, and thus could support an argument that an excise tax would be permissible even if it had some penalizing features. However, as discussed below, there are characteristics of the existing taxes that might undermine an attempt to draw support from them for an excise tax on corporate campaign expenditures.

It could be argued that the § 527(f) tax and § 6033 proxy tax could be upheld, in at least some contexts, under the non-subsidization rationale expressed in Cammarano. While they may look like taxes imposed on entities engaging in protected speech, it might be more appropriate in certain situations to characterize them as the mechanism to avoid federal subsidization of political activities.165 This is because the effect of both is that the organizations are not exempt from federal income tax on otherwise exempt income to the extent funds are used for certain political activities. Thus, the two taxes are arguably the functional equivalents of a disallowed deduction under § 162(e), although this comparison might not support the taxes in all circumstances. Such an argument would not appear to apply to the proposal to tax corporate campaign expenditures.

The taxes imposed under §§ 4955, 4945, 4911, and 4912 could be characterized as penalty taxes on § 501(c)(3) organizations for engaging in campaign and lobbying speech, thus suggesting that the subsidization rationale cannot fully justify their imposition. The taxes imposed under §§ 4955, 4911, and 4912 are imposed on activities that § 501(c)(3) organizations are restricted under the tax laws from engaging in. Assuming these limitations are constitutional, the taxes may be an appropriate mechanism for enforcing them. If the limitations were found to be unconstitutional, then that might call into question the constitutionality of the taxes as well. The § 4945 tax is different in that it also applies to certain expenditures that are otherwise permitted under the tax laws. Thus, to the extent the § 4945 tax is imposed on such activities, it might be characterized as penalizing behavior that is otherwise lawful, and therefore might be compared to a proposal to tax corporate campaign expenditures. However, the two circumstances might be distinguished. Private foundations are heavily regulated due to fear of abuse, and thus the § 4945 tax could be seen as a part of an overall regulatory scheme, separate from campaign finance. Whether a comparable rationale would exist for a proposal to tax corporate campaign expenditures would appear to depend on the specific proposal and its context.

Finally, one could point to the fact that the existing taxes apply to tax-exempt organizations, thus perhaps permitting the arguments that any restrictions are a trade off for the benefit of tax-exempt

165 See, e.g., American Soc’y of Ass’n Execs. v. Bentsen, 848 F. Supp. 245, 249 (D. D.C. 1994) (upholding the § 6033 proxy tax regime, explaining that “[u]pon close examination of this case it becomes obvious that this is less an instance of penalizing the exercise of a fundamental right than a case of Congress deciding not to subsidize the exercise of that right. The United States is not obligated to subsidize any person’s lobbying.”).